Chennai, May 6 (IANS): The Tamil Nadu Health Department commenced counselling services for students who were unable to pass the Class 12 board examinations, the results of which were announced on Monday.

The state School Education Department has said that of the 7,60,606 students who had appeared for the board examination, 51,919 students (32,164 boys and 19,755 girls) could not clear it.

The Health Department has launched counselling services through its health helpline ‘104’ and TeleMANAS (“Natpudan Ungalodu Mananala Sevai”) at ‘14416’.

The health helpline is also beneficial to students who have appeared for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET).

The Health Department, in a statement, said that in the academic year 2022-23, psychological counselling was provided to 46,932 students who did not clear the Class 12 board examinations, and 146 students (82 boys and 64 girls) were identified as "high risk".

These students were referred to, and followed up by, the district psychiatrists and psychologists of the District Mental Health Programme (DMHP) for continuous monitoring to ensure their well-being.

The statement said that the counselling services are being provided with the support of 30 help desks with 100 counsellors from the Health Department through the 104 helpline and TeleMANAS 14416 call centre in three shifts, with 30 counsellors in each shift.

Through this, high-risk students will be identified and referred to the district teams for further counselling and follow-ups.

The Health Department has urged students in distress to contact the 104 Health helpline and 14416 TeleMANAS facility.